The White Sox have acquired catcher Blake Sabol from the Red Sox in exchange for cash considerations, according to an announcement from the Worcester WooSox. Sabol was outrighted off Boston’s 40-man roster earlier this month, so no corresponding transaction was necessary for Chicago to acquire him.
Sabol, 27, has now been traded for the second time in seven months. Acquired by the Red Sox from the Giants back in January, the former Rule 5 pick appeared in just eight games for Boston this year. He hit a paltry .125/.167/.188 in that limited time and didn’t perform much better at Triple-A Worcester, where he batted .167 with a .281 on-base percentage and slugged .299. That weak performance was enough to convince the Red Sox to risk losing Sabol on waivers when they designated him for assignment earlier this month, but he cleared waivers successfully and was outrighted to Triple-A.
Now that he no longer requires a dedicated 40-man roster spot, it seems the White Sox had interest in him as a depth option. The combination of Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, and Korey Lee leave Chicago fairly well set up in terms of catching options on the 40-man roster, but the addition of a non-roster veteran like Sabol could be helpful given the youth of that trio. If two of those three young catchers need more seasoning in the minors at some point, Sabol could step in to help fill the gap at the big league level. The same could be said for the possibility of injury; one look at the Orioles this year shows you can never have too much catching depth.
It’s also worth noting that Sabol has had at least some level of offensive success in the majors before. While 2025 has been disastrous for him so far, Sabol did enter the year with a .243/.313/.392 slash line at the big league level across 121 games with the Giants. That’s a roughly league average showing, and it’s not impossible to imagine that his numbers could improve if he stopped spitting time between catching and the outfield and focused on one position full-time, particularly given the fact that Sabol remains in his prime.
Sabol is theoretically controllable until after the 2030 season, though it must be noted that he’ll be eligible to elect free agency following the 2025 season unless the White Sox add him back to their 40-man roster. Even so, that potential for longer-term team control gives the acquisition of Sabol more upside than the typical depth addition. As for the Red Sox, the emergence of Omar Narvaez has more or less solved their issues behind the plate, as he and Connor Wong have managed to form a formidable tandem. Seby Zavala is likely the next man up on the catching depth chart for Boston, and that figured to be the case even before Sabol’s departure.